Bureaucracy works best when it melts into the background, remaining an undetected process that takes place behind the scenes to take care of the paperwork and processing of documentation. When bureaucracy fails to do its job, it sticks out like a sore thumb, becoming a source of contention.
Recently, newcomers to this country dealing with the system put in place by Immigration Canada have been facing a plethora of errors and delays in processing their applications. This has lead to a huge backlog and critical mistakes that threaten to invalidate the entire immigration process for those new to Canada.
Broken Telephone
On of the most significant breakdowns in the immigration system is the communication between Canadian employees and applicants seeking residence in Canada. Important notices get lost in the mail and in some cases entire applications disappear, eliminating hundreds of pages of documents that took days of effort to put together.
For example, a newcomer from China was recently threatened with deportation due to an incomplete application for spousal sponsorship, despite the fact that his lawyer hasn’t received any official notices for additional documentation.
Another case of miscommunication involved a Jamaican man who received official correspondence that stated his application was in processing. After months passed, he was informed that an incomplete package was returned to his residence. Currently, nobody knows the location of his application, threatening the entire process.
These complete breakdowns in basic communication seem baffling considering the simplicity of sending an email, snail mail or even just making a quick call to confirm receipt of vital messages.
Stubborn Inflexibility
Despite numerous complaints of various problems affecting the immigration process, government officials appear to more interested in passing the buck than figuring out what’s wrong and fixing the problem. Mistakes end up causing problems for applicants while bureaucrats refuse to make simple, clerical adjustments, to fix errors created by workers in their system.
Even those on the managerial level remain stubborn and inflexible to the cause. Sonia Lesage, representative of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, said that the “CIC is focused on making our application processes and our correspondence with clients simpler and clearer. We have moved to a system of ensuring perfected applications are handed in at the beginning of the process.”
This quote completely ignores the fact that the correspondence between Immigration Canada and applicants is already simple and clear. The problem is that in too many cases, not even the basics are handled correctly.
Need More Information?
This, like any process in immigration runs much more efficiently with the help of an experienced professional.
For more information, and professional immigration advice, contact Niren & Associates today. Our experienced staff has helped thousands of individuals and families ,and we can help you, too! Contact us today for more information about Canadian immigration, or fill out our free immigration assessment to get started right away.
President & CEO
Michael Niren
Mr. Niren is CEO of VisaPlace LLC and the President and Managing Partner of VisaPlace Legal Canada, an immigration law firm based in Toronto, and VisaPlace Legal US a law firm registered in The District of Columbia, USA. Mr. Niren is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Canadian Bar Association’s Citizenship and Immigration Section, American Lawyers Association, and an Associate Member of the American Bar Association.
